Sunday, July 03, 2016

Maybelline Lip Flush (CO01) Review and Swatches

Maybelline Lip Flush Healthy Sheer Lip Color is Maybelline's newest offering, it's a lot like what is called "melting balm" in the Korean beauty world today. Like a melting balm, it "melts" into the lips and fits in right in place for comfortable wear, nourishes the lips, and of course, makes the wearer happy as it's watermelon scented. It's got a sheer coverage, shiny finish, and gives a healthy flush of color, hence the name. Aside from this shade are seven other shades, featuring reds, pinks, a coral one, and an orange one.

This is how it looks like when it's still sealed. It's thinner and sleeker than the usual Maybelline lipsticks. This has its own shiny cathedral window kind of lid. unlike the matte covers they have for their matte lipsticks.

For the interested folks, here are the ingredients.

This is how the bottom of this tube looks like. I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, but these shades simply have the code of the color and then the number. No fancy names for these.

This is how the product basically looks like without the lid. This has a slanted metal case, so it's not really meant to feel like a lipstick that is meant to be hoisted up in the case in each usage.

This is what I would call a red orange shade, or for shade reference, it looks like coral (the precious stone). This is far from the grapefruit kind of coral that we think of in most of today's makeup nomenclature. PK04 is the coral pink entry in this collection.

This is how it looks like. The product itself is more or less at the same length as a typical Maybelline lipstick, but what's different is that this is sleeker at more or less 1cm diameter (compared to the usual 2.5cm-ish diameter of lipstick cases). The stick is at 1 inch, more or less, so overall this is just 3g of product versus the usual 3.9g for Maybelline lipsticks. 0.9g may not seem so much, but when you start to think that 3.0 to 3.9 makes it go from 1 to 1.5cm in diameter and 1 to 1.5inches in length, that's when it starts to sink in.

This is how the swatch looks like. It goes on sheer, and it really goes on shiny. This was never meant to be matte nor opaque. It generally builds on whatever "background" it has, so this will also look a little bit different once it's already on the lips as it will, by then, be building on the pinkness on the lips.

Weee, it's lip swatch time! Before I show the lip swatch, though, for color reference, here is how my lips look like prior to applying the product. I think this is already considered an OK day because my lips are usually even paler compared to this. And of course, there are always lots of flaky patches because of my chronic lip dryness.

On the lips, it looks like a sheer tomato red. The orange undertones don't show up a lot on the lips anymore because of the lips' color.

On me, it looks like I'm wearing a sheer red lipstick. I admit I'm not really a fan of this shade as I'm not very into orange shades, more so ones with reddish hues. But for those who are looking for coral shades that really have no touches of pink, this'd be a good choice.

So I'll also put here some of my comments on the product line in general:

Packaging: Each one comes in a shiny silver case with a red cathedral window lid. This may make it a little difficult to know each shade at a glance as the window is red. In terms of size though, it's sleek and easy to carry around.

Shade Selection: This is one out of eight shades, with the whole collection having two reds, four pinks, one coral one and one orange one. I am a pink girl through and through and you dolls know that so well, so for me this collection having four shades of pink is the best way to go. I feel that the vibrant color spectrum of shades that Koreans usually use for melting balms are well represented here, as these are the colors that they would also turn into lip tints. The concept of this collection is very Asian, so in an Asian perspective this is the right spectrum. But I guess, given the Western world's addiction to mauve and brown right now, there's nothing in this collection for that and you will still have to bear with liquid lipsticks to get a brown shade. One other thing I'd like to note, though, is that I like how they have a lot of sheer creamy shades as with the pinks. Most colored lip balms are purely transparent, so I like that they have more sophisticated offerings with the creamy ones.

Color Payoff: I think that this has good color payoff for a melting balm because you kind of have to realize that this goes on sheer and goes on shiny. The fact that all these shades can be discernibly different despite going on sheer shows that the undertones of each shade really show up, which is why I think this has a good payoff. I also like that while it's sheer, you can actually pile this on to make the color more intense, or put this on very thinly for a no lipstick #MyLipsButBetter look. The color is very buildable.

Texture: This has a smooth, emollient texture that glides on easily. It feels smooth to the touch, and when you try to smack your lips it does not feel sticky whatsoever. When it is drying up it of course glides less and less easily, but it's still smooth. It doesn't have that sensation wherein when a lip product is drying and it starts to powder and flake up.

Comfort: In relation to texture, this is a very very comfortable product, and I super love this because there are many shades that look so sophisticated that I can get away with wearing technically lip balm to a lot of occasions now. Continuous use has helped to make my chapped lips less dry (though still dry hahaha), but for someone like me with extremely dry lips, this is already OK.

Longevity: A lot of people are asking as to how long this lasts on the lips. So this behaves a lot like a lip balm and dries up as fast as one, so you'd need to reapply every 2-3 hours, or more often if you have drier lips. In this collection, not all shades leave tints on the lips. The red ones, the coral one, and the orange one, all leave subtle tints akin to using lip tint. But since the pink ones are also creamy, they don't leave that much of a tint, but they help to improve to make the lips rosier.

Value for Money: Each one only costs Php229 in Maybelline counters nationwide! This more or less comes in a 1 inch stick with a 1cm diameter, which, based on my experience for similarly sized products, can last for about two to three months with frequent daily usage (i,e.3-4 times a day), but can extend for even longer if you don't use it very often. I think it's very affordable, more so this is the only balm collection where I can get cute shades.

Overall Verdict: I loooooove this collection overall. Having extremely chapped lips in the middle of the matte/liquid lipstick/powdery lipstick trend is not an easy situation to be in. A lot of the current selections of lip products are too dry for people like me, so this collection is a godsend. I really liked a lot of the shades in this collection and I really see myself repurchasing shades in the near future.

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The Blogger

Mari is a random human who likes cats, makeup, and having an online playground. Doll Up Mari is the place where you, ehem, doll up Mari. This is a Pinay beauty blog run by a citizen living in the Philippines who is still looking for a less grand term than Pinay Beauty Guru to refer to herself.

Mari is still figuring out how to use a management degree while drowning in kitty fur and can work part time as a PR strategist aside from her meow-my duties.